Kingdom Hearts 0
by damaster123
Summary: Nine years after Sora's birth and one year after FF7, Ale the Keyblade master and his two friends fight Darksides and other Heartless, Nobodies and one really ticked off Sephiroth as they try to seal the Keyholes and save the worlds. Chapter 5 up!
1. Chapter 1 Encounters

**Note 1- I don't own Kingdom Hearts (but don't we all wish so?), but I do own Ale and Nela.**

**Note 2- This chapter is kind of slow, but trust me, if you like the basic story so far, I will submit chapters two and three which are completed and have some nice action. Chapter four a work in progress. Please review!**

Chapter 1-Encounters

'This place is nothing but a wasteland' he thought. A baron strip of land with dirt and large dark rocks. Dark humid caves with stalagmites going up eight feet, and dark secrets lurking deep within. A rocky landscape surrounding an inner radiant garden. Though no one wandered in the outskirts. The dark creatures wandering there could dispose of an average human with relative ease.

He was tall and had fairly tanned skin. Even darker was his jet-black hair. He expected they would arrive here soon.

A dozen of them surrounded him. He was backed up against the cave walls; if he were to go left, right, or back he would be obstructed by a rocky wall. Ahead of him were the dark figures.

They looked like people except for their completely dark figure, bent antennae, and small glowing yellow eyes. Most people would go into panic, but he knew he had something most didn't.

He put out his hand as if reaching for the peg of a ladder. A light flashed and what resembled a key the size of a sword was in his hand.

The creatures flinched. He took one large step and swung his key horizontally to wipe out half of the swarm. Numbers 7 and 8 were vanquished from a burst of flames conjured in his left hand, while 9-12 were magically pulled towards him but were then struck away from his throwing of the key like a disc.

These creatures fear this 'Keyblade' and that is why he was to be the one to rise above these creatures. For a while now this has been his job. Protecting the numerous worlds from these creatures and the source of all of it.

He had a moment to think. 'Why me?' he thought, 'Why am I the chosen one?'. 'Before it was a request, now an obligation…' He stood still and focused.

"Help!" A voice from the town cried. They're up to it again. He would need hurry. It's about a quarter mile's run from the outskirts to the town itself.

When he finally arrived it came to his surprise that there was one girl who was still standing yelling 'Help'-clearly the came voice from before. It had taken him a good three minutes to get there, surely they would have gotten her by now. He looked to the left. A young man about the same height as him but with blonde hair and lighter skin was standing there with a large sword slashing them quickly and somewhat easily.

He unleashed the Keyblade. "Back off, Neos!" he yelled. He came with his Keyblade and defeated five of the creatures that had attacked him before.

After a large amount of the creatures were defeated, they retreated into the shadows.

"I had them." Said the young man with the large sword. " Can't hurt to have some help." He replied.

"That doesn't matter." said the brown haired light skinned girl

"Thank you Cloud." She turned to the Keyblade wielder "And you too, thank you."

"It was nothing. Your friend did most of the work." he said. "My, brother's pretty good, huh?" she replied. "Well my name's Nela, what's yours?"

He replied "My name's Ale." He turned to Cloud "I have to admit, the way you beat those Heartless was impressive. Especially since you have a normal blade- no enchantments, nothing."

Cloud looked down at his blade "This blade's hardly normal." he replied " It's saved me in the hardest of times." It was clear the sword was old and had taken a beating. It was dirty and scratched but still deadly.

"Well I should be going. I have a job to finish. Nice meeting you." Ale walked towards the Great Maw, where he came from. "Wait a second." said Nela "Where are you going?" "I need to find someone." Ale replied "The source of the darkness." He continued walking. He was interrupted by Cloud "You mean Sephiroth."

Ale stopped short "How do you-" "I've been on Sephiroth's case for a long time. Has he returned here?" asked Cloud.

"No, but…what do you know about him?" he asked.

Cloud thought for a second "I'll tell you on two conditions: One- since I don't have a means of transport, you take me and my sister with you to pursue Sephiroth. Two-" "Hold on." Ale interrupted "Your sister?"

"What, you don't think I can fight?" Nela asked. "Well you were crying for help surrounded by the creatures." "Only because I was weaponless." She replied. "She's an impressive fighter with a sword." Cloud said.

"Now condition two." said Cloud. "You tell me about that key of yours."

Ale paused "I'm not getting a great deal with this." "You're the one who wanted information." Cloud replied.

"Fine. You're definitely a good bargainer. First the creature you encountered is called a Heartless. They're made from the darkness of peoples' hearts. And now…"he paused "It's a long story which happened about three years ago. Let me start from the beginning…"


	2. Chapter 2 Keyblade

**Note1: Hello again Kingdom Hearts fans. KH0 Chapter 2 is here. You should read Chapter 1 first though since this is going to be at least an 8 chapter series.**

**Note2: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters, but I do own Ale and Nela.**

Chapter 2-Keyblade

"Ale, I have an assignment for you." In the SOLDIER army's base at the conquest offices. "Sir, General Sephiroth Sir." replied Ale. "There's a new World Heart that has revealed itself." Ale sighed "Sir, which one Sir?" asked Ale. "The Land of the Dragons." Sephiroth answered "You must search that world, from the highest peak to the lowest valley. Open the Keyhole. Then seize the heart."

Ale paused "Sir…with all due respect Sir… how do we open the Keyhole?"

"If my plan is to succeed, not only do you need to have faith in me, but you also need to be smart enough to help me to find a way to open the Keyhole." Sephiroth replied.

"Sir, yes Sir." He replied

"Report to the docking bay immediately to board your Gummy ship. Now Captain."

"Yes Sir…"

He and everyone else in SOLDIER hated Sephiroth's plan. In fact no one even knew why he wanted all of these hearts. But everyone knew that no one in SOLDIER has yet to capture a World Heart. But Ale cooperated.

At the Gummy hanger Ale stepped on the large boarding platform. A tall man stepped up to Ale. "Hey Ale, ready to load?" Ale nodded his head "Hey Bill. Yep, I guess so. Whenever you're ready" Bill sighed "Another Keyhole goose chase right?" "How'd you know?" Ale said sarcastically. "The General's been really loadin' these assignments on ya' eh?" Ale turned towards the ship "Yeah, let's just get it over with." "Good idea." replied Bill.

Bill walked up a small flight of stairs to a desk covered in papers and coffee stains "Platform up on flight deck 'R'" said Bill into a microphone on his desk. Ale was elevated into his Gummy ship. An even larger platform lifted him and his ship up to a takeoff lane. It was barely wide enough for the Gummy ship to pass through. This helped the pilots to retain stability during immediate takeoff. In the cockpit on Ale's control panel a monitor flashed on. "Ale," said Bill "we're now opening the air gates." As the airlocked gates opened, trickles of light started to illuminate the pitch-dark alley Ale shielded his eyes.

"Main levitation blocks at the maximum, engine blocks initiated. We are go." said Ale dully, since this is beyond the hundredth time he's done this sequence this year alone.

The Gummy ship blasted out of the hangar, going from zero to three hundred miles per hour in mere seconds. But it didn't bother Ale like it used to, since, thanks to Sephiroth, he had experienced this many times again and again.

Despite the ship's extreme speed, it would take about an hour to get to the Land of the Dragons. This gave him some time to think. Why did Sephiroth keep giving out these pointless assignments? Even weirder, why did Ale get them most of the time? He was the youngest SOLDIER captain yet which also made him wonder. If he was so skilled, why was he always getting these pointless and impossible missions? Why? Why him?

He arrived in the Land of the Dragons earlier than expected. Great, now he could report defeat to Sephiroth earlier than planned. He landed in a small military encampment. There were about 30 men in the cramped area filled with tents and watch posts. He left the ship.

He said as his script told him to "By order of the SOLDIER regiment and the valiant General Sephiroth, there is to be an immediate search for vital causes. No search warrant is necessary."

The man who seemed to be the commander from the look of his cape and armor stepped up and said, "I guess you think you're pretty tough, just flying into our world like that huh?" "I don't think." Replied Ale. "I know." He held out one hand and in a flash, all 30 men besides the general blew away into the air. "The only reason I spared you is because I need information." The general remained poised "Never." Ale sighed and snapped his fingers. A ghost Heartless appeared next to Ale. "Go." He commanded. The ghost obediently flew into the commander's head. He clenched his head in pain "Aaaaaaah!" he screamed in a combination of pain and terror from having a spirit inhabit his head.

The ghost returned "What did you find?" the ghost whispered something to Ale. "Ah, good work. You will be handsomely rewarded." The Heartless happily disappeared into the darkness.

"Your usefulness has ended. See ya later ." He held out his left hand and the captain floated up a foot into the air. He conjured a yellow sphere in the same hand. It immediately penetrated the captain's body. Ale simply said "Good night". And with that the captain's body fell, the once proud man, now an unconscious and reluctant traitor to his world…

He had taken the Heartless' directions and headed to the large palace where the wise, all knowing Emperor was supposed to reside. "Excellent.". He walked across the large courtyard. What he encountered next was more surprising to anything he had seen in a while.

He turned around. What he saw almost scared him. An enormous Darkside Heartless was behind him. About ten times the size of a typical human, but made of darkness. He snapped his fingers in dismissal. The Darkside remained. He snapped again, no response. He did this several times until he finally commanded "Darkside, you must return to central command." Yet it wouldn't leave.

This was serious. The fact that he was the strongest sorcerer in SOLDIER didn't matter now; these kinds of Heartless were made to be unstoppable. Then he finally realized- why was a SOLDIER Heartless attacking him? The only one who could do this was… Sephiroth. No…no it couldn't. But it was too late. The Darkside smashed down with a dark fist. His heart was gone…wait…something happened. The process of heart removal was reversing… he became a whole human again…and…there was something else. There was a flash. A key like sword appeared in his hands. "Keyblade…" he said. Not noticing the Darkside attacking again. The Keyblade reacted by moving Ale's hand up and swiping at the hand. Now that Ale's attention was back on the fight, he was ready.

He quickly jumped up to the Darkside's waist level and conjured a flaming ball in his hand. Fire was after all, his best element. "Firagun." He calmly said and a mass of fire covered all of the Darkside. While it was stunned Ale made one finishing slash with the Keyblade, landing on the ground moments before the massive Heartless fell to the ground. He won.

"Incredible…" he said to himself "Wait! It all makes sense! Keyhole, Keyblade!" but he thought, wait, I'm not gonna do SOLDIER's dirty work anymore, not after this outrage. "But if opening the Keyhole will release the Heart, locking it will keep it there forever! Or at least for a while." He told himself. The Keyblade glowed with a bright yellow outline. A keyhole appeared in the sky; that was it. Finally he pointed the Keyblade at the Keyhole. A beam of light emitted from it and rushed into the Keyhole. The Keyhole disappeared and with that the job was done.

Ale knew SOLDIER was against him now. Not only did they send their most powerful and least numerous Heartless at him, but he defeated it. With that, something sparked in his mind. They're gonna attack another world! He ran back to the ship. Then he saw the commander, still unconscious. He pointed the Keyblade at him and the commander started to twitch and move. "This thing will never stop amazing me…" Ale said to himself.

He had to leave before the captain awakened. Ale quickly boarded the ship and took off.

He opened the SOLDIER invasion report on his control panel. It read the next world they were attacking was Agrabah. He had no time to lose. An entire world's fate rested in his hands…


	3. Chapter 3 Quest

Chapter 3-Quest

"Wow," said Nela "quite a story." "Yep." replied Ale "Now Cloud, I think its time for your story." "But you haven't agreed to take us on your Gummy ship yet." "It's a two part deal, Cloud." said Ale "First you tell me your story, then you get the second part of the deal." "Fine" said Cloud.

"Well I was in SOLDIER for about 2 years. My higher ranking officer and I were on a mission to an 'unnamed world' and we were only given the coordinates by Sephiroth who claimed that the order to go was from the Elders of SOLDIER."

"Wait." interrupted Ale "Who was your higher ranking officer?" "General Sterling." replied Cloud. "Wow! You were partnered with the only SOLDIER General to be better than Sephiroth?" asked Ale surprisingly

"Yeah. Now General Sterling and I were within a quarter of a mile of the place and we knew we were in trouble. We saw The World that Never Was." Ale's eyes dilated. Just the mentioning of that wretched place made him shiver… Cloud continued "But we couldn't disobey a command from the Elders. So we went in and started on our objective; to find an enemy no one's seen before.

"We were there for about an hour, exhausted from searching every spot of the world. Then they came. They looked like the Heartless that attacked my sister and me earlier, but with no antennae and they were completely white. Probably some new Heartless. Anyway there were about fifteen of them surrounding Sterling and me. They were easy at first for us to hold off, but they kept coming. Eventually Sterling told me to leave. I fought and argued and said I wouldn't go. After all he became like a father to me. But he insisted. And when I still wouldn't go, he used reflect magic on me and I went flying into the Gummy ship. Luckily the Air doors opened, or it would've hurt. Anyway he had really thought ahead, because the autopilot took off without me saying anything. I never saw him again…"

Cloud paused and closed his eyes. He opened them and exclaimed, "I knew Sephiroth sent us there on purpose! The Elders had nothing to do with it! He wanted to be SOLDIER's best, and he would do anything to get to that point. That's why my sister and me have to come with you! Deal?"

Ale thought, "Sure, first we have to seal the Keyhole. And are you sure your sister can hold her own against the Heartless and whatever other kind of monsters we find out there?"

"Hey!" she exclaimed in annoyed anger "I learned my sword skills from my bro over here! I can fight anything he can!"

"Ok, ok!" replied Ale, overwhelmed from the sudden outburst "Just get your sword! And hurry, the Heartless can be going anywhere now. We're just lucky I have the invasion report."

About ten minutes later she finally returned with a katana. Cloud was leaning against a wall and Ale was lying down. "Man!" exclaimed Ale "I know women take forever to change, but you were just getting a sword!"

"Shut up!" she yelled teasingly, "Come on, lets go!" exclaimed Cloud from about twenty feet ahead of Ale and Nela "The Heartless don't stop moving!" "Right." Replied Ale. His Keyblade pointed in Cloud's direction "Nice guess Cloud!" yelled Ale "Just get moving!" he replied. Ale and Nela ran towards Cloud's direction as he ran in the same direction. Ale and Nela exchanged glances and smiled at each other. It was going to be tough journey, but they would have to keep a positive outlook…

They arrived at the Great Maw a few minutes later. The group came to a stop "Where's the Keyhole, Ale?" asked Cloud. He took lead and said "Follow me.". He took a few steps when out of absolutely nowhere came a Darkside. "Ale," started Nela "is this the Heartless you told us about in your story?" "Yep." he said "Now we know he's taking us seriously, he doesn't usually send a Darkside on a person twice." "That's because the first one usually wastes the guy!" replied Cloud. "Well, I took one down on my own, we can definitely take one together." Said Ale. The Keyblade appeared in Ale's hands.

"Let's go!" he exclaimed. "Cloud, you attack the middle area, Nela, attack the feet. I'll try to stun its head." Nela kept taking slashes at the enormous Heartless' feet and shins, Cloud repeatedly jumped up and attacked the waist. Ale jumped with all of his might and threw the Keyblade at the Darkside's head. It felt nothing.

"Ale, what's going on?" asked Cloud "They must've made this one different." Replied Ale "The other one I fought went down with one slash from the Keyblade." "Well clearly this one's tougher." Said Nela who was still taking diagonal slashes at the Darkside and clumsily let go of her blade in mid-slash and it flew up and struck the Darkside in an 'uncomfortable spot between the legs'. "Oooooooooooooo…." Said Nela. The Darkside let out a loud deep moan. Something sparked in Ale. He jumped, kicked off the Darkside's waist and pushed back in mid-air, then finished by taking advantage of the Darkside's 'discomfort' and slashed where the heart would be if it were a human. The large corpse fell and deteriorated at the same time and was gone before it touched the ground. It never saw it coming…

"Wow…" said Ale "Why did… how did… but… never mind." "That was a pathetic death. Or should I say disappearance. Heartless technically can't die." Said Cloud. "I guess you all have me to thank!" said Nela "You and your clumsiness!" Replied Ale. "Oh shut up!" she playfully yelled back.

Ale returned to seriousness "The Keyhole." He said. He pointed his Keyblade up and the Keyhole appeared in the sky. Like previously, abeam of light raced from the Keyblade to the Keyhole, and the Keyhole then disappeared.

"Ok, to the Gummy ship." Said Ale, turning back to his friends. "Where exactly is it?" asked Cloud. Ale pointed to a bare rock.

"What?" asked Nela "Just run into the wall." Replied Ale. Cloud and Nela just stared in confusion. "Trust me." he said. Cloud went first. He started fast and slowed down a little towards the end. But he disappeared into the rock. "Weird." Said Nela "Your turn" replied Ale "Ok." She said reluctantly. "It's better of you close your eyes." He said, "I'm tougher than that!" she replied. She started to run but she tripped. "We have to hurry." Said Ale. He grabbed her hand, helped her up and pulled her through the rock as they ran together.

Inside was a huge Gummy garage, about the same size as the one in SOLDIER. Cloud turned "What are you guys doing?" they looked down and saw that they were still holding hands. They quickly pulled away. "Oops." Said Nela "Sorry." Replied Ale. There was an awkward silence for about five seconds. Ale spoke first "Well let's go!" he said and he ran towards a big Gummy ship. "Nice ship." Said Cloud "Thanks, Falcon has never let me down." Ale replied with his hand on the ship's side. Ale put his hand on a picture of a falcon on the ship and a four by three grid appeared showing the numbers zero through nine, an asterisk and a number symbol. Ale typed in a complicated 10-digit code and a ramp extended from the ship's back area.

"After you." Said Ale. Nela stepped onto the ramp and walked up, then Cloud did likewise. Ale followed them and entered the cockpit. "Ok levitation Gummies, engine Gummies, up. We are go!" he said. The Gummy ship blasted upwards into a flight lane, then forward out of the hangar. Their quest was about to begin…


	4. Chapter 4 Predicaments

**Note 1: Sorry for having to post this again, but I don't own Kingdom Hearts or its characters, but I do own Ale and Nela.**

**Note 2: Chapter 4 will probably be the longest chapter in the series. But it's worth it. This chapter has important details, surprising… surprises, and most of all, action! Enjoy!**

Chapter 4- Predicaments

As the Gummy ship blasted through the celestial bodies, Ale opened up the Invasion report. "It says here, Olympus Coliseum." He then moved over in his chair to large grid. He pressed a series of coordinates into the grid and spoke into a microphone "Launch submitted coordinates." And the Gummy ship made a sharp turn and headed in the direction at an even faster speed.

"The autopilot will take it from here." Said Ale to his friends who sat in the cockpit alongside him. "So how long will it take?" asked Nela, "About an hour." Replied Ale.

Cloud wondered for minute then asked "So how do expect to fight Sephiroth if you're just freeing worlds. You do want to fight him don't you?"

"Of course." He replied "And I do have a plan. Sephiroth doesn't just go out of his way to deal with any annoyance. We need to get him so annoyed and interfere with so many of his plans that he'll have to deal with me-or I guess us- himself. Luckily I've interfered with enough worlds' conquests so that it'll only be a few more worlds until he comes to try and stop us."

"I guess that'll work." Said Cloud. A few seconds later, Ale yawned "Maybe I should take a quick rest before we get there." He said sleepily. "For the Keyblade master, you're pretty lazy!" said Nela jokingly, "Maybe I should've gotten that Keyblade." Teased Cloud. "Honestly, I wouldn't mind if you took it." Replied Ale "I really hate this thing." "Why?" asked Nela "If I got a mystic sword that could save worlds I would be excited." Ale sighed "Well I thought that too at first, but after so many times having to stop Heartless and other disgusting beasts every day… well… I want a life."

"Why can't you give it to someone or throw it away?" asked Nela. Ale held out the Keyblade to Cloud "Take it." "But I already know the legend and I-" "Look just take it." Cloud took it in his hands, annoyed. Ale focused and the Keyblade reappeared in his hands. "Woah! Let me try!" Nela exclaimed. She grabbed the Keyblade in her hands. Ale sighed and put his hand out. He then looked down to find them empty "What?" Ale said in extreme confusion. He tried again and again only to find his hand without a Keyblade. He simply grabbed it. Ale said "Uh…uh… its faulty…?" "Never mind." Replied Cloud, "You're tired. You should rest." "Good idea." Said Ale, "Maybe we all should. Autopilot will take care of things and we'll know when we get there. Nela and Cloud agreed.

He took them to the back area of the Gummy ship and punched in a three-digit code into a panel on the wall. "Man, you have a code for everything on this ship, don't you?" Asked Cloud "Hey, it's SOLDIER, not me." replied Ale.

A door opened and in it were four beds extending from the walls, two on each side, one on top, one below. Ale jumped into the top right, Nela climbed into the bottom right, Cloud into the bottom left. They slept for the most relaxing hour they had in a while…

They woke up to the wound of annoying beeps. Ale mumbled "Come on, just a few more minutes!" Cloud moaned and Nela yawned. Unfortunately they had to get out. Ale yawned "Well we're here! Time to get that Keyhole!" "Yeah!" exclaimed Nela. "Lets go!" agreed Cloud.

They stepped out of the Gummy ship and the bright light stung their sensitive eyes. They had, after all just spent an hour in the dark depths of space.

They saw a huge patch a sand-looking floor. At its end was a door with two statues of gladiators clashing swords. They were almost as big as Darksides.

They walked up to the door and pushed it open. Inside was a room very small by comparison to the outside area. There were four trophies, two on each of the right and left walls. Directly in front was a passageway about as tall and wide as a doorway whose only obstruction was a sign that read "closed". To the right of that, writing something on a clipboard was a small and chubby creature that resembled a centaur with one pair of small legs. His back was facing the three of them.

"Hey!" called Ale to the creature. "I told ya already!" he exclaimed angrily "No pass, no games!". "What's it to you?" Ale yelled back. "That's it!" the creature said, holding back his temper. He turned and looked like he was about to charge but froze in position. "Ale!" he said happily. He walked up to Ale and shook his hand "Hey Phil! Been a while!" replied Ale "No kiddin." He replied "What's it been, like three years?" he asked, "Where've ya been?". "Well… some things happened, I had things to do."

"You know each other?" asked Nela. "Yeah!" replied Phil, "Ale over here was one of the Coliseum's best competitors! One of the few SOLDIER captains I actually liked! So Ale, you gonna enter a tournament? The crowd's missed ya."

"Sorry Phil," replied Ale, "but there's something we have to do here. Have you seen any Heartless?" "Oh man. I can't believe I almost forgot to say." Said Phil "Hades has been making Heartless! He's the one behind this! In fact Hercules is there right now on the job!"

Ale interrupted him "No Phil… _SOLDIER's_ the one behind this…" "What?" asked Phil. Ale said, "Sephiroth makes the Heartless, not Hades. Speaking of which, you should stop opening this place to SOLDIER." Phil replied, " What about you?" Oh don't worry," replied Ale, "I quit SOLDIER a while ago."

Phil said, "But Hades has an artificial Heartless machine. And he's hooked it up to the Underworld's central spirit station so now he's spittin out more Heartless than SOLDIER was before, and they're stronger than usual!"

"Then we should hurry." said Ale. Phil started to say "But wait there's a-" "No time." Ale interrupted. He turned to Cloud and Nela "Hurry, we have no time to lose." Ale opened the door and walked into the center of the outside area. He put out his hand and a dark portal appeared. "You're still in tune with the darkness?" asked Cloud "Only slightly." Replied Ale "Now let's go."

They ran into the portal. Phil then came, running out of the inner area door screaming "Wait!" and jumped into the portal just as it closed.

They arrived in the Underworld. They were in the center of a narrow piece of land with three paths extending from it. One leading to a light staircase (must've been how Hercules got here), the other two each leading to one of two rocky walls with a crack down the center.

They turned and saw Phil come flying from the portal Ale had made and then saw the portal disappear.

"Phil," Ale said, "which way to the machine?"

Phil was panting heavily "I-I can't -pant- -pant- tell you! In the Unerdwor-" he was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a dark figure. The figure turned into a man with blue skin and blue fire for hair. "I am Hades! King of the Dead! Ruler of the Underworld!"

"Yeah yeah yeah, give me a sec ok?" Ale replied casually "What was that Phil-" "WHAT? You dare address me, Hades, Lord of the Undead, with such a casual tone? In my Underworld?"

Ale finally gave him his attention "Ok so you wanna be defeated again, huh?" Hades looked at him "You! Oh, this'll be good!" "What?" asked Cloud, "I owned this guy way back." Replied Ale, "Fine Hades, time to beat some info out of your dead, fiery ass! Here's the question: where's the Heartless machine?" Ale made the Keyblade appear in his hands. Phil stared "_You're_ the Keyblade master? And you didn't tell me!" "Sorry." Said Ale "Forgot to tell you in all this." "If I may butt in," interrupted Hades, "the Heartless machine is in my chamber." "What?" Ale asked in confusion. "It's not like I'm worried or anything.

"That's it!" he exclaimed "You're going down!"

He tried to move the Keyblade…and nothing happened. "Hey!" he yelled in frustration. "What's wrong?" asked Nela. "I don't know. I guess in all the stuff happening before, I didn't realize that I can't feel my arm!"

"Yeah," said Hades, "in the Underworld, heroes are zeroes! Nice effect, don't ya think?" Ale thought of something "Ok Hades," he said "I was saving this for a rainy day!" he used the rest of his strength to move the arm without the Keyblade and yelled "Aquagun!" his supposedly 'fierce water spell just sent a trickle of water two feet ahead of him. "My magic!" he exclaimed.

"Now Keyblader!" exclaimed Hades, "Die!" Hades focused on conjuring a large fireball in his hand. It was about twice Ale's size.

"Cloud, Nela, Phil! Put your hands on my shoulder! Give me your energy!" they cooperated, since a blast that big would be extremely dangerous and they had no other plan to stop Hades. Ale stored in the little energy his friends had left.

"Die Keyblade master!" Hades released the colossal fireball at Ale. Almost immediately after he said this he exclaimed "Reflegun!" And with that a large half-sphere shield protected the four of them from the fireball. "Shatter!" Ale shouted. The shield broke into hundreds of sharp magical pieces. "Chaos Needles!" he exclaimed. The shield pieces flew towards Hades. He yelled in pain and was stunned long enough for the four to conjure a new portal and escape…

"What was that?" asked Ale, in the outside area of the coliseum, "I tried to tell ya!" Phil exclaimed furiously, "The underworld's dark energy takes away all power from people who reside in light! The only reason you could use magic at all is because you still have some darkness in you!"

"Then how is Hercules fighting down there?" asked Ale.

"He has the Olympus Stone. It counters the effect of the Underworld."

"Then that's it." Said Cloud, "We need the Olympus Stone."

"But more importantly," replied Ale, "we need Hercules."


	5. Chapter 5 Heroes

Chapter 5- Heroes

Phil didn't approve of the idea "How do you expect to get Herc if he's probably found the machine and is in Hades' chamber by now, deep in the Underworld?"

"Leave that part to me." said Ale confidently "I've learned one or two tricks with the Keyblade, one being telepathy."

He pointed the Keyblade into the air. 'Hercules…' he thought, 'Can you hear me?' All he could hear in his mind was faint breathing. He dropped the Keyblade to waist level again.

"Nice trick." Phil commented.

"Ale what did you hear?" asked Nela. He opened up a new Underworld portal. "We have to hurry, Herc's in it deep." Cloud and Nela entered the portal. "Phil, you coming?" "I'll sit this one out." He replied "I need to hold down the fort.". Ale nodded. He entered the portal and it disappeared.

They already felt weak as they entered the Underworld. "Guess we didn't notice the weakness either." Cloud said. "Wait." Ale said. He closed his eyes and unleashed the Keyblade. He swung it with no problem.

"What did you do?" asked Nela. " The curse of weakness is mostly mentally based. The darkness needs your awareness to work. Don't think about the weakness. Clear your mind." Just bringing the curse up made Ale temporarily weaker until he cleared his mind again. Cloud and Nela did as directed. They test swung their respective swords as if they were on a regular world. "Now no more talking about… it. Got it?" Ale asked. Cloud and Nela nodded.

Ale focused and the Keyblade pointed towards one of the rock doors they saw earlier. They walked up to it. "Now what?" asked Nela. "I think Ale knows what he has to do." Replied Cloud. Ale knew what was to be done. He pointed the Keyblade towards the door. Little streaks of light twisted and curved in towards the Keyblade's tip. A beam rushed to the door's crack and it pries open. But after they opened the door, they realized they might have not wanted to open it.

Behind the door was a black head. No two. Three now. Underneath them was the body of the giant dog guardian of the Underworld, Cerberus. "Darksides, Underworld lords, we can't get a break can we?" asked Ale. Cloud, on a more serious note said "Nela takes left, I take right, Ale takes middle?" "Sounds good to me." agreed Nela. Ale Nodded "Let's go!" he exclaimed.

They charged into the cave and jumped to their assigned head. Cloud on the right, Nela on the right, Ale in the middle. They slashed furiously at the monster and it had no way to counter with all three heads occupied. Nela couldn't stay in the air any longer. She started to descend, but the head she was attacking caught her off guard and slammed her into the cave wall. "Nela!" Ale exclaimed, as he turned his attention to Nela's barraged body. Then the head he was attacking took advantage of the moment and hit Ale. Luckily he was able to kick off the wall and keep consciousness. Unfortunately, the two heads that were attacked Ale and Nela worked together to aid the right. They fired black fireballs at Cloud and he fell to the ground near Ale.

Ale and Cloud ran to Nela. Ale lifted her up to an upright sitting position by one shoulder, Cloud by the other. "Nela, wake up!" Cloud exclaimed desperately. This was the most emotional Ale had ever seen Cloud. "Nela please wake up!" said Ale. She wouldn't wake.

Ale and Cloud stood up. "Ale," said Cloud sternly "That Chaos Needles thing, think if you had a little more power you could 'heat it up'?"

"You know, that's a good idea. Give me your energy!" Cloud placed his hand on Ale's shoulder. As Cerberus attacked with a flaming ball of fire, Ale exclaimed "Reflegun!" the large shield protected all three of the fighters. "Shatter!" Ale exclaimed. The shield broke into hundreds of pieces like before. "Enflame!" the pieces were now on fire. "And now…Chaos Flame Shower!" The flaming pieces rushed into the beast and exploded on contact. The beast fell unconscious.

They ran to Nela. Ale grabbed one of her shoulders, Cloud grabbed the other. They lifted up to her feet, but still had to support her balance. "Nela, please! You have to wake up!" exclaimed Cloud. Ale stepped back and closed his eyes. He then pointed the Keyblade at Nela. He tapped her on the shoulder he was previously holding. She woke up.

"What…what happened?" she asked sleepily. "You got knocked out." Replied Ale. "Are you okay?" asked Cloud "I'm fine now."

"Ok, now we have to hurry." Said Ale "That guy won't stay down for long" he said looking down at the Cerberus. Nela finally noticed it "What did you do to it?" she asked. "We'll explain it later, now we need to go to Hades' chamber." Said Cloud. "Right." She replied.

The inner portions of the cave were similar to how you would imagine the Underworld: dark, gloomy, and foggy. Heartless attacked them almost everywhere they went, and there were even some new ones. One looked like a crossbreed of a ghost and a Neoshadow. Just weird…

After slashing their way through the hordes of freak Heartless, they found a door. This was getting old… Ale lifted the Keyblade, the door opened. "Well, this it." Said Nela. "We'll get him." replied Cloud.

"Hades! You're cornered! Give up!" demanded Ale. Hades simply laughed. "Did you already forget about _the curse_?" "No!" Ale exclaimed. All three became instantly weaker. Cloud fell to one knee, Nela fell to a sitting position and Ale dropped the Keyblade. "Now you three losers are doomed!" Hades exclaimed. He rose his left hand into the air and conjured a huge fireball like before. This time Ale didn't have enough strength to protect them. They were devastated by this shot of fire. Ale only had one option.

"Cloud. Nela. Go." He ordered. "No, this is our fight as much as it's yours." Cloud replied.

"There's only one way to stop him at this point. Something I wish I could've given up. But now there's no choice." He said, sounding more serious than usual. Cloud understood at this point. "Nela, he's right." Cloud told her. "What?" she asked "I -pant- wanna help." "Only Ale can do this." He replied. Nela didn't move. Cloud used the rest of his strength to grab Nela, throw her over his shoulder and run out of the chamber. She tried to yell, but she didn't have enough strength at this point.

"Hades. Your plan has one huge flaw in it." Ale said standing up straight. Hades laughed hard "And what would that be?" Hades asked. "Your big scary curse only works on those who use the power of light." He replied. Ale closed his eyes. His body started to become darker and darker until his body was so dark you could barely see his physical features. His eyes opened to reveal two circles of light yellow.

"Feast your eyes on my Anti-Power!" he exclaimed. The curse was lifted and he regained his strength. His Keyblade turned completely dark and had a slight curve and a pointed tip "And my Anti-Key!" he added proudly. 'I should hurry' he thought 'I don't wanna lose control to this. Not again…'

He quickly leaped towards Hades and slashed furiously with the Anti-Key, Each time it made contact with Hades, small dark flares flew from his slashed skin. "AAAAAH!" Hades cried out in pain and fell to the ground. "Not so tough now are you?" asked Ale "Too bad!" he exclaimed and charged at Hades and slashed his arm. It started to bleed. Hades fell unconscious.

Ale tried to retain his light…but something said he didn't want to. So he stayed dark. He now wanted more destruction. He obliterated the Heartless machine with a large dark fiery flash. He then ran throughout the Underworld, desolating everything alive (or should I say dead) or Heartless in sight. He eventually found his way to a light flight of stairs. Where had he seen this before? He started to lose his memory. Something with Hercules… He stepped up to it and the light stung like nothing he had ever felt before. He angrily pounded at the floor and the walls. He had given into darkness.

Eventually on wall he had pushed had gone inwards like a button of some kind. Part of the wall opened up to reveal Hercules, asleep in a dungeon. Ale disregarded this and only focused on getting revenge on the light. He braced himself and ran up the light staircase. When he reached the top, he entered a coliseum. I know I know this. He told himself in his mind. But from where?

He saw three people: a strange creature, a boy about his size, and a girl with brown hair. He ran and hit the boy with his Anti-Key. This got the attention of the other two. "Ale?" exclaimed Nela in confusion. Ale turned his attention to the small creature. He slashed him. Both were still alive, but hurt and knocked out cold. "Ale, please snap out of it! Cloud told me about your darkness! Please!" Nela begged him in desperateness. Ale dashed to her right as he lifted the Anti-Key, she embraced him. His eyes dilated. He froze in mid movement. She held onto him with all of her mite. Then, still frozen, his body's darkness started to deteriorate. Starting at his feet, going up to the knees, to the waist, up to the neck and finally his head. His Anti-Key reverted to the Keyblade's normal form. His glowing yellow eyes shut. When they opened they revealed their normal shade of a light blue.

Nela released Ale and he finally regained his memories and control. "N-Nela…what happened?" he asked, "Your dark side took over you. But I think you beat Hades and now your ok!" "But how did I find my light?" he asked, "Let's just say your light came to you." She replied.

From a light path came Hercules. "Herc! You're ok!" exclaimed Ale. "Yeah! Someone opened the chamber where Hades held me captive. He stole the Olympus stone and I was affected by the curse."

"Hold on." Ale said. He took off his left shoe and shook it. A flat stone came out, about the size of Ale's palm. It was the Olympus stone. "How do you not notice that?" asked Hercules. "Dark powers do things to a person." He replied. "I'm not even gonna ask." Replied Hercules. Ale handed Hercules the stone and he turned to Phil and Cloud. As he did, the Keyblade glowed. He turned and saw the Keyhole. He pointed the Keyblade at it and sealed the Keyhole.

Cloud and Phil woke up. "Wow, you recovered fast!" said Nela. "Ale, how'd you turn back to your former self?" asked Cloud. "I don't know." Said Ale, "But Nela does, don't you?" he asked. "Well…umm…shouldn't we be leaving?" she asked, desperate to leave the subject. She grabbed Ale and Cloud and pulled them to the Gummy ship. Ale yelled, flying at incredible speeds "Bye" to Hercules and Phil. "Later." Replied Phil "Thanks guys!" yelled back Hercules. Their last cries were barely audible as the three left and boarded the gummy ship. Pressing random buttons, Nela eventually got the ship to take off to the next world…


End file.
